Court rules Air Force diverted injured, sick service members from official disability evaluation

A federal court ruled that the Air Force improperly sent thousands of service members through an unauthorized prescreening process that kept them from accessing a disability evaluation system mandated by Congress.

Wounded, injured and sick service members were diverted from an official medical review process, known as the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, according to court documents.

The decision, issued Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, found that the Air Force lacked the authority to create an “extra-statutory” prescreening that effectively diverted service members from IDES and the protections it guarantees.

“The court agreed that the prescreening process violated the Administrative Procedure Act and was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law,” said the National Veterans Legal Services Program, a nonprofit organization that represented the plaintiffs.

The prescreenings remain in effect as the court awaits a proposed remedy before issuing a final judgment, NVLSP said.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in July 2025, are former Air Force officers and enlisted personnel diagnosed during military service with an injury or medical condition that interfered with their ability to meet fitness standards and continue serving.

They include Kathleen L. Watts, of Florida, a certified physician’s assistant who served for 12 years; and Robert Newman, a 10-year cryptologic language analyst who left the military in 2023.

Watts and Newman were returned to duty and denied medical retirement consideration due to the prescreening process, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit was certified as a class action in January. The class represents current and former Air Force members.

Troy E. Meink, the Air Force secretary, is named as defendant.

The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This case is straightforward. When a service member has a medical condition that may prevent the service member from reasonably performing the duties of his or her office, grade, rank, or rating, or otherwise presents a medical risk or unreasonable burden, the law requires referral into the IDES,” according to the complaint.

Operated jointly by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, IDES evaluates service members for service-connected disability before they leave the military.

But the prescreening established by the Air Force effectively has kept the named plaintiffs and other qualifying service members from consideration for their “property interest in disability retirement benefits without the minimum due process required by law,” according to the complaint.

Watts was diagnosed with cerebral venous thrombosis, which occurs when a clot prevents blood from draining from the brain. As a result, pressure builds up in the blood vessels, which may lead to swelling and bleeding in the brain.

Watts’ neurologist reported that Watts “had a medically complex condition that was at risk for causing permanent blindness with no handoff in care,” according to court documents.

Yet she was returned to regular duty with limitations and not directed to IDES for an evaluation in the weeks prior to her discharge in June 2023.

“I am concerned as her doctor as she was released from active duty without a medical evaluation board or any plan for continuity of care,” Dr. Johnathan Thomas, a military physician, wrote in her records.

Watts’ attorneys argued that prescreening acted as an “unauthorized filter to prevent a severely injured airman from accessing the full and fair hearing and the disability retirement benefits to which she was statutorily entitled.”

Participants in the program can expect to receive post-service disability benefits much faster, typically within 30 days of separation, according to the military.

IDES is a multistage process that begins when a service member is referred for evaluation by a commander, medical officer or a medical treatment facility. A service member cannot self-refer to IDES.

The program was introduced as a pilot in 2007, expanded across military installations and officially designated as the Integrated Disability Evaluation System in July 2010, according to congressional documents.

Court documents indicate that Air Force members did not receive IDES access from at least 2019 to the present.

After a referral, a service member is sent to a VA-administered compensation and pension exam to determine disability. The examiner documents functional limitations from service-connected medical conditions.

During the process, a board of physicians convenes to evaluate a service member’s fitness to meet retention standards and continue to serve.

A service member whose conditions are rated at a combined level of 30% or higher is deemed medically retired and entitled to monthly disability payments “in perpetuity.”

A service member with a rating of 20% or less is “medically separated” and receives a one-time lump sum for a disability severance payout.

“For years, thousands of wounded and ill Air Force service members were diverted into an unlawful process that stripped them of the rights and protections guaranteed under federal law,” said Esther Leibfarth, senior managing attorney with NVLSP. “The court made clear that the Air Force cannot replace the system Congress created with one of its own making.”